We chat with author Tessa Bickers about The Night Bus, which sets Virginia Woolf’s Orlando as a main character in a modern-day London romance.
Hi, Tessa! Welcome back! How have you been since we last spoke for the release of The Book Swap?
Thank you so much. It honestly feels like an honour to be back with you, because it means I have another book out and that is something I do not take lightly! I’ve been really good, thank you. I have met (mostly via social media) so many wonderful readers of The Book Swap in the last couple of years and it has felt so special to speak to readers and understand what my book meant to them. Couple that with my favourite thing to do, which is write, and I’d say I’m having the time of my life!
Your latest novel, The Night Bus, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Oooooooh! Heartwarming, hopeful, deep, emotional and funny.
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect to be taken on the journey of two characters, Daisy and Tom, as they are thrown together on the N73 night bus in London and, through meeting each other, start to question whether there’s more to life than the one they’re currently living. There’s also a literary mystery at its heart involving the Virginia Woolf book, Orlando. Much like The Book Swap, The Night Bus questions what it means to be human and while it is a romance I think it’s also about two separate people trying to better themselves and make the most out of life.
Where did the inspiration for The Night Bus come from?
I’ve been asked this a few times and I wish I could properly remember. I have a google doc entitled “Book ideas” and it is a running stream of consciousness that I’ll add to at any time. I submitted one book idea to my publisher that wasn’t quite right and I was asked if I had anything else, so I opened up the document and right at the top it said – and I’ll copy & paste it directly from the document to here – this: “Night Bus. Two people always get the same bus after a night shift. Same seats. She always gets off first. Why is he always reading the same book?” I have no recollection of writing it down but my brain immediately started spinning with ideas and I was off. I sent it over to my agent who replied with “I love it! Crucialy what is the book and why is he reading it over and over?” Two questions I did not have the answer to and so the plotting of The Night Bus began. The reason that Tom is reading the same book over and over is actually similar to something that happened to me in my late teens and I’ll leave it there…
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
One of the last scenes you’ll read in the book is one of the very first I wrote and it’s hardly changed. I could picture the moment exactly and I wrote it in one go before I knew much about Daisy and Tom and who they were. Everything that happened in the book then lead up to that one moment and actually it was such a huge help to have that scene written so I could hold onto it while I got to know the story. There’s another moment involving a snowy walk which I added in a later edit and writing it made me fall deeply in love with my characters in a way I hadn’t done until then. In terms of characters, Tom and Daisy aside, I loved writing little Martha. It’s always fun when the youngest person in the book comes out with the wisest statements of all!
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
I would say my challenge was the fact I’d moved from London to Bristol before I started writing this book and so the first draft was written using google maps and memories! I wanted to get the story down while it was fresh in my head and then, while I’d sent the first draft for edits, I booked a hotel in London and did all the research that would lead to much greater descriptive writing in the second draft! I got up at 3am a lot and rode the night bus. I walked the streets at night and took videos and wrote notes on my phone about sights and smells and sounds. I got to know the N73 bus route so well, on and off the bus, that I could recall the stretch of road really clearly so that when I sat down to write the second draft I could add all of those details that would bring London at dawn to life.
What do you hope readers take away from The Night Bus?
I thought a lot about this while writing it. I had, as I mentioned earlier, received a lot of messages from people who’d really connected with The Book Swap and been impacted by the story and that wasn’t something I’d been prepared for. I always feel moved and changed by other people’s writing, but I hadn’t really considered it was something mine would do. I therefore took that really seriously when writing The Night Bus in terms of how I wanted people to feel when they finished reading it. Ultimately I think we all deserve to live the best life we can and I suppose The Night Bus is a reminder to stop and look at your own life and see if there’s anything you can change or do that will make you feel happier and more fulfilled. I want it to be a message of hope.
What led you to romance?
I’ve been an avid romance reader since I can remember. I was absolutely gripped by Sweet Valley High and I continued on from there reading everything from Lisa Jewell and Marian Keyes, to Lindsey Kelk and Emily Henry. I think there’s something so comforting about picking up a book and knowing it’s going to be alright in the end. It means you can put yourself through the torment of the characters’ lives because there’s no rainbows without rain and maybe there’s a lesson in life there somewhere!
What’s next for you?
I’m busy promoting The Night Bus, but I have two books I’m writing alongside that (one romance and one not) and a third YA idea that won’t leave me alone. That one has been haunting me for years so I think very soon I need to stop everything and write it, even if it’s only my daughter who ends up reading it!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I have just received my copy of Claire Daverley’s new book People in Love which I cannot wait to start. Her debut, Talking at Night, is one of my all time favourites and I think I’ve had her second on order for about two years! I’ve just finished Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter and while I’m not often a fantasy reader I could not put that book down. It is an astonishing debut. I had the privilege of reading an early copy of The Memory of Borrowed Books by Meg Anderson which is out later this year and it’s a beautiful story full of hope, with unforgettable characters. Georgia Stone is a really exciting new voice in romance and I loved her novel, The Friendship Fling. She’s made me want to write a slightly spicier romance next! Finally I absolutely loved This Book Made me Think of You by Libby Page. It’s a beautiful story shaped around novels, a little like I tried to do with The Book Swap, and I found it so moving. I could keep going forever, but I’ll stop there. I’m not sure there’s anything an author loves more than being able to talk about other people’s brilliant books!
